For nearly 12 years Christmas Eve means a family treasure hunt. They have taken numerous forms over the years… When the kids were little clues were simple poems, drawings and limericks. Over the years we have evolved to Spanish translated on a smartphone, virtual reality clues, longitude and latitude coordinates, video clues, web pages and QR codes. The geographic area covered has been as small as the family room and as large as the entire city of Seattle. This year there were no gizmos or technology. It was all puzzles and brain teasers. The kids never even put on their shoes. Completing the 12 clues took about 90 minutes. Our annual treasure hunt is consistently a memorable shared family experience. We decided to share this year’s clues in hopes that perhaps you will start the holiday tradition with your family or community.

1. Create a Treasure Hunt
Examples and clues from the 2013 Keller family treasure hunt.

2. For nearly 12 years Christmas Eve means a
family treasure hunt. They have taken
numerous forms over the years… When the
kids were little clues were simple poems,
drawings and limericks. Over the years we
have evolved to Spanish translated on a
smartphone, virtual reality clues, longitude
and latitude coordinates, video clues, web
pages and QR codes. The geographic area
covered has been as small as the family room
and as large as the entire city of Seattle.
This year there were no gizmos or technology.
It was all puzzles and brain teasers. The kids
never even put on their shoes. Completing
the 12 clues took about 90 minutes.
Our annual treasure hunt is consistently a
memorable shared family experience. We
decided to share this year’s clues in hopes
that perhaps you will start the holiday
tradition with your family or community.
The Kellers, 2013

3. The first clue is fairly simple. My
goal was to focus the
participants on the format and
set expectations. The answer I
was looking for was freight.

4. I leveraged some great ideas
from the Dandelion Express
blog’s “Treasure Hunt for Nerds”
post. This one got the kids up
and around the house looking
for a keyboard with an envelope
taped underneath.
http://bit.ly/1c6cto6

5. The answer here
prompted the kids to
look for their next clue
under the sofa cushions.

6. The look on everyone’s face was priceless when they opened this
clue. I found a font in Morse Code, wrote a perfectly awful
limerick, and expected them to figure it out. They recognized the
code right away, found a code key and solved the puzzle.

8. We love wordplay.
Periphrastics is using
two or three words
when one will do. There
are lots of resources for
this on the web

9. Kat figured this one out
while absently tossing a
ball up and catching it as
she struggled to sort out
an answer.

11. There are some terrific
rebus generating tools
on the web. I used the
festisite.com site.

12. August offered a correct
answer immediately. I
think after 10 of these
types of puzzles they could
see solutions faster.

14. This one was my
personal favorite. It
certainly was the most
difficult. All four of the
kids had to sit down
together at the table to
solve the maze. It is
difficult to see in this
graphic, but this puzzle
is a two-page word
maze. As you read the
words along the correct
path you will discover
the solution. Again, the
festisite.com site had
the best tools for
generating the maze.

15. I want to give credit to some the great web resources I leverage for this year’s
clues. Three really good starting points are:
•
•
•
http://www.festisite.com/
http://dandelionexpress.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/a-treasure-hunt-for-nerds/
http://hubpages.com/hub/Best-Scavenger-Hunt-Clue-Ideas
You can contact me via Twitter @drewkeller or through my website:
www.storyguide.net if you have questions.
A treasure hunt like this takes a little time and planning. But it is an experience
that can shape your family and can be an annual event. Creating them is insanely
rewarding, and our family anticipates the next one throughout the year. Best of
luck.
Drew Keller